Sunday, February 7, 2010

Paganism at the USAF Academy

Here’s another indication that the United States is no longer attached to its Christian roots. Not far from the Visitors Center at the United States Air Force Academy, atop a hill, a handful of pagan cadets gather in an area set apart by the Academy as a pagan worship center. But controversy is swirling at the Academy because someone leaned a wooden cross against a boulder at the site. The act has been viewed as religious discrimination that will not be tolerated.

Paganism elevates nature to a level that only the one true God occupies. It is as evil and offensive to God as it was when pagans tried to construct the Tower of Babel. They aspired to access the sky and worship the sun, moon, and stars. But God came down to see the builders’ foolishness, and then He scattered them and confused their speech. Romans 1:18-25 records His attitude about paganism.

The cross and boulder at the Academy transported my thoughts to another cross and boulder. Jesus voluntarily died on a wooden cross to provide redemption. His crucified body was placed in a tomb, and then soldiers positioned a boulder at the entrance and sealed it. Three days later, however, an angel rolled the boulder away so Jesus’ followers could enter the tomb and see where His body had lain. He had risen from the dead, and He lives forevermore.

Paganism does not feature a risen Savior, but Christianity does. Christians worship and serve the risen Son of God, the One who made all things (John 1:3). Isn’t it ironic that pagan AFA cadets worship on the very ground Jesus created?